1. Technical Field
The present disclosure generally relates to techniques in failure analysis of electronic devices such as semiconductor integrated circuits, packages, boards, and the like. More particularly, and not by way of any limitation, the present disclosure is directed to a system and method for isolating failures in electronic devices using gradient thermal analysis by induced stimulus.
2. Description of Related Art
In the field of failure analysis of integrated circuits, diagnosing functional failures is a requirement. Traditional beam-based analysis techniques use a scanning laser or electron beam to induce a parametric shift, which is monitored through changes in current or voltage driven to the device. Deep sub-micron technologies frustrate these analytical methods due to the nearly immeasurable parametric shifts externally caused by a small signal leakage path internally. These internal failures can be identified functionally by their dependence on timing, temperature or voltage, but the exact location of the fault is difficult to isolate. A number of testing methods, e.g., Stimulus Induced Fault Test (SIFT), Resistive Interconnect Localization (RIL) and Soft Defect Localization (SDL), can identify anomalies functionally using induced thermal gradients to the metal but do not address how to analyze embedded temperature sensitive defects that are inaccessible to the laser. Stacked die and similar three-dimensional devices complicate the analysis, as these require the destruction or removal of one or more die.